kidreger

hey everyone! i've got some flat pedals on my rocky mountain and am interested in switching to clipless pedals. i hear a lot of talk clipless on the forums, and everyone mentions how there are benefits to clipless, but what actually are the benefits? the benefits to flats are obvious - being able to dismount quicker, easier. should i switch and if so why? what would you recommend as clipless pedals for around $80 U.S. ($100 canadian)? is this a lot of money to spend of clipless? i don't need absolute top of the line, but i am willing to pay for something that works well. what should i look for? are there pedals that are easier to get used to as a newbie to clipless?

Ricardo

Dude, for a first timer, get cheap shoes (the ones that look like hiking boots) and wellgo clipless pedals, they are cheap and work as good as the shimano offerings. If you dont like or dont get used to clipless you have spent 60 or 70 bucks the most.

Ricardo

apclassic9

the main benefit to clipless is that your pedal stoke is working for you on the down pedal, and, since you're attched, on the up pedal too. More power use.

When you first go clipless, spend some time on some soft grass, clipping in & out - once you get the hang of it, it's easy. You can get full setups at performance, nashbar, etc. cheap - pedals with matching shoes.

iamthetas

the benefits are more power by being able to use your entire pedal stroke for power and not just the down and back part. it uses and builds a totally new set of muscles from flats.
balance. after acclimation you will have much better balance which in turn will turn into more confidence.
I have to disagree with the quicker foot off pedal. before going clipless and the acclimation I agreed with that statement. from using my Time ATACs for a couple of yearsI can clip and unclip just as fast and naturally as lifting my foot or putting it down.
a good entry level pedal I would recomend is the Time ATAC Alium. they are inexpensive, have nothing to adjust, are very well built, have a decent size platform for those " I have to do this section unclipped" times when you are new at it.
shoes Id recomend are anything by 661. a better tha decent bginner shoe .
if and when you go clipless be patient with your self, twist out and clip in every time you think about it for a while, go to a soccer field or other soft landing area and practice stopping for a bit and **important** twist at the ball of the foot not the ankle. it saves a least 3 milliseconds which could be the difference between a close call and a crash but *** most importantly*** enjoy the frustration and dont give up. it WILL be worth the effort. take it from a former clipless HATER who was too darn stubborn and cheap to go back to platforms

richardmasoner

I think a much more important benefit is your feet stay attached to the pedals. With platforms, how many times have you hit a bump, lost your feet, and then flailed around until you've found the pedals again, perhaps losing control because you looked down at your feet and certainly losing speed?

RFM

cryptid01

Clipless pedals do not give you better balance.

rbrsddn

Once you go clipless and get used to them, you'll wonder why you didn't get them sooner. The only way to go, in XC and road anyway.

RIC0

G5Ti

As far as ease of use, I can say that my Eggbeaters are infinitely easier to clip out of than my Shimanos. And while they're easier to clip into as well, the feel of clipping into the Shimanos was more convincing.

If I could do it over again, I would have opted for some sort of Eggbeater style pedal to learn on. You can spend $50-450 for a set of Eggbeaters, depending on how fancy you wanna be.

TRaffic Jammer

Before you know it you'll be haulin' up hills you used to struggle with. Time Atacs here.

cmktech

I just made the official switch and let me offer my $.02.

I had shimano spd505 which were 'sticky' clipless pedals that sometimes would trap your feet in. I ditched those and bought some spd520s and some sh56 MULTI release cleats. Definately go this route. No matter what way you twist your foot, you always come out of the pedals. This is much easier than having to do the 'twist your heel out' method which is the ONLY way for single release cleats/pedals.

I came off of riding toe clips/straps and I noticed a HUGE benefit to being clipless. Hope this helps.

roccobike

+1, Yeah, for me it was more maintaining pedal contact especially when I'm up, out of the saddle. Since I went clipless, my time standing on the pedals has more than doubled.
If it hasn't already been said, set the tightness adjustment on whatever brand you buy to as loose as possible so you can clip out easily. For what it's worth, I use SPD's and find they are very easy to clip out of. As for learning to use clipless, yeah, I fell down like most everyone else,..........a lot.
But now, I won't go back to flats.

cyccommute 

Well, they do...kinda. With your feet clipped in, there is less of a tendency to dab your foot on sketchy stuff. I found that I kept my feet attached much longer and tried to ride through stuff where I might have taken a foot out of regular clips (It's been a long time since I've ridden with any thing but clipless )

In urban settings, I tend to not unclip at all but trackstand most of the time. I've done 3 hour rides where I've not unclipped.

catherine96821

why are they called clipless, when they clip, btw?

I had keo look pedals, now spd but sometimes a little trouble getting back in at lights, fast enough to get through swiftly and cleanly.

pinkrobe

Oh god, no. Get the single release cleats. I went clipless in '93 ['94?], and multi-release means you release at the worst times, especially when cranking hard up a climb or applying some body english to a rock garden. Bad news all the way...

<kicks off shoes and waits for flames>

pinkrobe

No toe clips!

catherine96821

oh. guess I have never seen toe clips. I wish there was some way to try different pedals, cleat styles. It is expensive to keep trying them all. Mine seem a little sticky and hard to get into. I wonder if the speedplays are nice.

Big_knob

YEah in my opinions Speedlay Frogs are nice pedals ,, i have been using them for a few years & i like'em.

rbrsddn

I have the Time Atacs too, and like the fact that there is a platform of sorts to get through sections unclipped.

euroford

i have just recently made the transition from "clipless" to "absolutly no clips of any sort", aka "platforms".

and i think its AWSOME. i have concluded, that asside from road cycling, and cross country (which IMO, is road cycling through dirt and mud on a lightweight MTB) where the emphasis is on spinning clipless pedals offer no benefit asside from an increased chance of any crash being worse.

i do have to say though, that one must learn this for themselves, and it pays to be a good rider on both types. the single best deal in all of cycledom are the cheap spd clipless pedals from performance. i've had a couple of pairs of these, on road and mtb's for years, and i've NEVER had a single complaint about these pedals. you could literally lie to yourself and pretend you have $150 shimano's and you'd never notice the diffrence.

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...egory_ID=10045

Flak

It's rare that i become seperated from my platforms. Although coming down caney bottom i lost contact between the kickers once, that was sketchy

RIC0

Time Z's for me.

TRaffic Jammer

I just looked up the Z's as I run old sierra's.. I likey the platform with the ATAC as I get a little sketchy sometimes with the small footprint of my pedal, especially comin' in from the air.

cryptid01

Don't jump to conclusions. Both DH and BMX racers use clipless. There are benefits on the power transfer side that go beyond just pure spinning.

TRaffic Jammer

Hells ya ^^^^ clipless rocks on the mountain. Climbing is easier, especially evil tall sections, descending clipped in is a dream. The ability to confidently move laterally clipped in is great.